Link between Race and Social Class

Race and Social Class

The relationship between race and class remains one of the most hotly debated issues in today’s society. The modern society is increasingly multicultural because of increased globalization. Race and class have attracted the concerns of many stakeholders including professionals across different disciplines, policymakers, and the public. This comes at a time when racism is still a major issue in society despite the numerous efforts undertaken in the fight against racial prejudice and discrimination. The United States has had a long and uncomfortable history of class conflicts and tensions with race relations. The long-standing issues relating to race relations and class conflicts are indicators of the strong link that exists between race and social class.

Generally, race and social class are intimately intertwined despite being usually unrecognized (Hirschberg & Hirschberg, p.178). According to the American Psychological Association, recent studies have shown that an individual’s social class and status are influenced by race and ethnicity with respect to stratification (par, 3). Stratification is used to group communities along socio-economic lines since people live in a multicultural or cross-cultural society. As today’s society comprises people from different racial or cultural backgrounds, race and ethnicity play a critical role in segregating people into different groups and determining their social class. Communities living in a particular society are segregated by race and social class. Race and social class are used to segregate people as part of the common characteristics they share. Segregation in turn contributes to inequalities in society. Therefore, the strong link between race and social class is reflected in their use as the premise for segregating communities.

The de facto caste system is an example of social stratification that reflects the relationship between race and social class. As a form of social stratification that was determined from birth, people inherited wealth, race, and social class since they were born under the de facto caste system. This system reflected the link between race and social class in terms of critical factors in social stratification. People inherit the race from birth but can change their social status depending on their socio-economic growth and development. In essence, modern society has no place for a rigid caste system because people have the liberty to choose their own occupations, which in turn shape their social class.

Race and social class are closely related on grounds that they are both social rather than biological constructs. As social constructs, race and social class are used for the segregation of groups or communities. In essence, social groups in society are formed in consideration of various factors including race and social class. Since they are social constructs, racial and social classifications of communities do not remain constant across boundaries. However, these social constructs shape one’s quality of life in terms of the distribution of resources. As noted by the American Psychological Association, resource distribution and the quality of life are shaped by race and social class, which indicates a strong link between these two social constructs (par, 2).

Moreover, social class membership is sometimes considered in terms of race. According to Weeks & Lupfer, social class membership is influenced by various factors, particularly race (p.972). For example, lower-class African Americans are classified by race, unlike their middle-class counterparts who are classified by social class or socioeconomic status. This implies that social class and race are used as social constructs for the social categorization of people. Consequently, these social constructs have an intersection in terms of the social inequalities associated with them. Race and social class are linked to discrimination and marginalization that have served as impediments for the upward mobility of certain groups of people such as racial minorities.